How to choose my Domain Name: A simple guide towards your Website’s Success

Perhaps choosing a domain isn’t a simple task, but it’s not something impossible to achieve. Choosing a domain is one of the first steps we must take to create our website. This will also determine the focus of our project. How to choose my Domain Name? 

Did you know that a domain has two parts? Yes, it comprises the name and the extension and both are important to SEO.

Today we will focus on the domain name.

You will get it, Step by step!

You must have heard that a domain has to be short and easy to remember. Those are fine, but they’re obvious. Besides, do you really think the domain is important to SEO? Well no, and we will tell you why.

Remember this: SEO is not a science. In SEO you have to decide and through different routes, you will gain experience and knowledge that will allow you to achieve successful results.

Sometimes a decision may be favorable, but not the most ideal of all. To balance this, complement it with another strategy or opt for another option that will lead you to achieve the same objectives.

What can I base myself on choosing my domain?

The keys to choosing your domain are:

• Keyword
• Local
• Brand

To implement one, two, or all three combined is the perfect option. This way, we can generate many domain names to achieve what we are looking for.

However, first, ask yourself the following, what do you want to achieve with your website? We have these suggestions for you!

• Get organic traffic with the use of keywords?
• Build your brand reputation?
• Position a local business?

Your domain must reflect your objective in its name. 

We have some examples for you to awaken your creativity:

How to choose my Domain Name? Domains with Keywords

It may be very beneficial to include the keyword in the domain we want to position within a sector or niche. This way, we are already showing our users and Google what our website is about.

For example, we could include the keyword “BluCactus SEO” in a domain: BluCactusSEO.com

Are we making progress? In the previous example, we put the keyword “SEO” and the name of the company.

Domains for Local Positioning

Here, the domain includes the city or region in its name. This makes sense if you have a local business or provide a service in a certain geographical area since this shows to our users and Google that our activity is geolocated.

So, assuming that we provide our services in Florida and that our agency only works there, our domain would be something like BluCactusSEOFlorida.com

How to choose my Domain Name?, Brand Domains

Regarding the creation of our brand domain, we can include our brand name, business, product, or our name if it’s a personal brand.

Here, it would be BluCactus.com. We’ll only show users and Google that the website is about us, without further information.

How to get ideas to choose the domain of your website?

Right here is where we can be very, very creative. Previously we talked about the three keys. This is where you can use them if you like. Everything you do, in this case, the name you choose; has to make you happy and assure you that anyone in the world can find you.

Let’s go with some examples!

Example 1: Domain with a brand and keyword, How to choose my Domain Name?  

Take, for example, one of the domains already mentioned: BlucactusSeo.com. This domain includes the company name and keyword. This is because, as a company dedicated to Digital Marketing, we also offer our SEO positioning services.

Although our original website doesn’t include the name of the word, we know that we are dedicated to this as a Marketing Agency.  Does it change anything? NO!

SEO is a word that has a lot of competition on the Internet and EDMs (Exact Match Domain) or exact keyword domains contribute practically nothing in highly competitive keywords or sectors. 

We’re already on the right track, aren’t we?

By choosing an EDM, the only thing we would do is complicate our brand of dominance. And this does not make much sense if we want our venture to be successful.

Example 2: Domain with the brand and long-tail keyword

Here is another example, now let’s choose a long-tail or long-tail keyword, such as “Blu Cactus SEO Agency”. Therefore, the domain name would be “BluCactusSEOAgency” .com ”. 

Maybe it could make sense because “SEO Agency” is a keyword with less competition. This could help us a little to impulse our dominance in Google search results.

Example 3: Branded domain and Local SEO, How to choose my Domain Name? 

Another favorable combination is to combine a keyword with a geographic location: BlucactusSEOAgencyAtlanta.com

Would this be a suitable option? This domain would be the most appropriate if we wanted to position on our page a section related to SEO in Atlanta. Here, having the keyword and geolocation in the name could help us.

It’s important to determine what your aim is. That way, you can reflect it in your domain. If the priority was to position yourself as some specialized SEO Agency in Atlanta, we could bet on “SEOAgencyAtlanta.com”

The key: Prioritize your goal.

You can create many combinations to choose the domain of your website, but always keep your aim in mind that:

If your goal is:

• To get traffic, the keyword prevails.
• Local SEO, that geolocation prevails.
• Make a brand, let the brand name prevail.

How to choose my Domain Name? SEO myths about domain names

We will answer some frequent questions about domain names and discard some myths.

Does SEO affect domain length?

Short domains are easier to remember, but this doesn’t matter as much as you think. Sometimes domain length helps if you focus on a specific topic.

So, is a short domain better?

It depends. We can say that it’s something relative. Here, having a longer domain is offset by other things. It gives the impression that it’s a website with a lot of content, with many links, and so on. Therefore, choosing a longer domain will depend on the brand image you want to convey to your audience.

Does Google consider the purchase time of the domain? How to choose my Domain Name? 

No!

This is a mega myth. Google does not take into account if you have bought your domain for 10 years or 2. 

Are domains still working with very specific long-tail words?

Yes, this is because the long tail words of specific sectors have little competition in the network. For example, if you sell Carved Wood in Florida, you may be a leader with this domain.

Can we use well-known brand names in a domain? How to choose my Domain Name?  

Don’t use a trademark other than yours in your domain name, unless you want to damage your reputation.

You may receive an unnecessary fine for choosing this option.

WATCH OUT!

What are the best domain extensions for SEO?

Domains are made up of two elements: the name and the extension. Both influence SEO, as we mentioned earlier. For now, we will focus on domains. 

Domain extensions are of importance to SEO. Not only because they vary these extensions, such as .com, .es, or .net, but also because they allow us to shuffle possibilities to get keyword combinations in our domains. 

Types of domain extensions:

Okay, what types of extensions are there that can change the SEO of our project?

We only have to take two into account:

• Global or generic domains, such as: .com, .net or .org
• Geo-localized or territorial domains, for example: .es for Spain, .mx for Mexico, .it for Italy.

We could talk about a third type, which would be combining a generic extension with a geolocated one, such as, for example, “. com.mx ”.

Such is the case of our website: “Blucactus.com.mx” 

How to combine names and extensions for SEO?

How can we take advantage of combining names and domain extensions for SEO?

Here we show you that you just need a little creativity.

Yes, you can do it!

Name + Extension = Keyword

An effective strategy is to combine the domain name + extension to form a keyword.

Example: black.shoes.

This is a domain name with its extension, but “black.roses” is a keyword with searches.

Name + Extension + URL Word = Keyword

You can combine name + extension + a word from the URL to form a keyword.

Example: It’s not a keyword, but if we add another word to the URL that matches the domain name and extension. The resulting structure can become a keyword with many searches. 

For example: meaning.of/dreams. There we already have a keyword with many searches.

Name + Extension = Keyword + URL Word = another Keyword

Another effective strategy is to make the name + the extension form a keyword and then add a word to the URL and thus get another keyword. 

Example: black shoes/woman. There, we already have two keywords: “black shoes” and “women’s black shoes”.

These are just a few examples, but you can apply these formulas in a thousand ways. The important thing is to be creative! 

Domains with a geolocated name + global or generic extension

Domains with global extensions, such as .com or .net position themselves worldwide. We see it daily! Don’t we?

If we have a website with the domain «glasses.com», it could position both in England, Australia, or the US as in any other country that speaks the same reference language of the website. That is New Zealand, Scotland, Ireland, or Canada, to mention some countries.

So what if I have a domain with a geolocated name but a global or generic extension?

For example, “GlassesAtlanta.com”.

Nothing! Nothing happens, it’s not exclusive! It will position the domain “Glasses Atlanta” even if it has a .com extension. 

Domains with the global aim + geolocated extension.

Questions about the previous example? Let’s see: What if we have a domain with a global aim, but with a geolocated extension? 

For example, if we have an online store from which we want to sell to everyone, but we use the extension “.uk”, we will transmit to our audience that it’s in the UK.

Here, we may have a problem, why?

Because with the extension “.uk” what we show to Google is that our audience is in the Uk. Therefore, this search engine will position us there and it will be difficult for people from other countries to find our website.

Be very careful with this!

How to choose my Domain Name? Creative exceptions

However, with these geolocated extensions we also have examples that show actions that may not be so favorable. To achieve our objectives, we can compensate by using other factors. 

This is the case of the website: significa.de.

The “.de” extension is a geolocated extension for Germany. But this website aims to capture the Hispanic public. 

So? It means nothing! This website performs many other favorable actions that tell Google that we intend this domain for the Spanish-speaking public. Like having a lot of content in Spanish oriented to many keywords and updated links from other websites in Spanish, this has allowed offsetting not having a global extent. 

What does this domain tell us? That in principle, this website is geolocated for Germany but is positioned for many keywords in Spanish and has more traffic from Spanish-speaking countries.

It seems a bit confusing, yes, but as we have seen with the previous example, it can work. 

Extensions that seem geolocated

There are domain extensions that seem geolocated, but are not, such as “.canada”, “.california”, etc.

They are global extensions, however, they can help us position ourselves for a geographical location by combining name + extension + a long tail keyword of local SEO. 

For you to understand a little better, we will give you this example: 

“websitesincalifornia.com”. It’s a generic domain in principle, but it can help us get links with anchor text that, at the same time, are keywords. Therefore, this strategy offers additional positioning advantages.

SEO myths about domain extensions

Next, we will mention some myths and explain how true they are:

How to choose my Domain Name?  Let’s continue!

Is a .com domain more valuable for SEO?

Not necessarily. Although we have more internalized domains with a .com extension and that, therefore, they are easier to remember, this does NOT represent a disadvantage to position a website. In SEO terms, all global or generic domains are the same. 

Does SEO work on free .tk domains? How to choose my Domain Name? 

In principle, domains with the extension “.tk” don’t have problems to position themselves. However, they have another big problem.

Usually, what you don’t pay does not belong to you and you can be without it. Just as when they have given it to you for free, they can take it away from you and your domain will disappear from the map. And that IS a very big problem.

If you want to experiment with it, nobody stops you, but we don’t recommend it, especially if it’s for a personal entrepreneurship project.

If my target is only Spain, will it affect me if I choose .com instead of .es?

No, it will not affect you. Some people point out that the extension “.es” has an advantage in Spain over a “.com”, but it’s not and we will explain why.

If you are going to choose between a “.com” and “.es”, we would tell you to buy both, but without a doubt, use the “.com”. Thus, you can have more opportunities to position yourself and reach a wider audience. You will also position yourself in Spain, even if you have a “.com” and, also, you can always show to Google through Search Console that your preferred audience is in Spain.

Questions, comments? How to choose my Domain Name? We are waiting for you down below! We are happy to answer your questions and read your comments.

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